Jyotiba Phule: Anti-caste social reformer and a writer from Maharashtra

Mahatma Jyotirao Govindrao Phule born on 11 April 1827, also known as Jyotiba Phule, was an Indian social activist, thinker, anti-caste social reformer and writer from Maharashtra.  

He led the movement against the prevailing caste-restrictions in India. He revolted against the domination of the Brahmins and struggled for the rights of peasants and other low-caste people.

Mahatma Jyotiba Phule was also a pioneer for women education in India and fought for education of girls throughout his life. 

From possibly coining the term Dalit to opening the first school for women in the country, Phule was a radical thinker who practised what he preached. He fought against untouchability and gender discrimination with equal passion.

Phule's social activism included many fields including eradication of untouchability and the caste system, education of women and the dalits, and welfare of down trodden women.

He championed widow remarriage and started a home for high caste pregnant widows to give birth in a safe and secure place in 1863. His orphanage was established in an attempt to reduce the rate of infanticide.

Having been married to Savitribai, a social activist, very early in his life, Phule was advised by his coterie of friends and acquaintances to remarry since they suspected Savitribai could not conceive. Phule, however, turned down the suggestion, saying if it were the man who couldn’t conceive, the woman would never be offered such an option. He would go on to adopt a child.